Claudia and Sophia were running through the streets.
Their breathing was heavy. They were also barefoot, so their feet were bleeding.
A few minutes ago, a group of ghouls entered the slave shop.
They began to attack everyone.
They were able to escape because a ghoul opened their cell, and due to their size, they could get out.
They ran as fast as their legs could carry them.
"O-Onee-chan, my legs hurt..."
Said Sophia, who was being forcibly carried by her sister.
"Run, Sophia! Mom isn't with us to save us. We have to flee this place while chaos reigns."
Claudia was also tired.
Unlike her sister, she barely ate. Food in the slave shop was scarce.
She always gave her portion to Sophia and ate only crumbs. The price for her kindness was costing her dearly now as she ran.
"We need to escape as soon as possible. If we stay here, we'll die from those things or end up in that tower like the others."
In the slave shop, there were several children like them.
One day, almost all of them left.
Someone bought them. They were only spared because they had caught a cold.
The buyer wanted healthy children without illnesses.
They never saw those children again.
"Kyaah!"
Sophia screamed as she tripped over a rock.
Claudia also fell.
She tried to get up but couldn't. Her legs wouldn't allow it.
"Get up! Come on!"
She shouted at herself to stand up.
A dull sound was heard.
Turning to look, they saw a ghoul that used to be an adventurer.
It opened its mouth to approach the girls.
Sophia hugged her sister tightly.
"Mom!"
Claudia also began to cry and call for their mother.
Just when everything seemed lost for them,
"What is it that my eardrums hear on this grotesque night?"
"A pair of beautiful damsels crying because of a repulsive being."
Heavy footsteps began to resonate in their direction.
More ghouls began to approach.
A cloud covered the red moon.
The mysterious figure arrived in front of them and said.
"There is nothing to fear, Mesdemoiselles, for your knight is here."
The cloud finished passing, and a man in shining armor was reflected under that red sky.
His hair was stylish and short. Like his eyes, it was light blue.
He drew his sword and began to... pose.
"Filthy beings of darkness! How dare you terrify these young ladies with your horrifying faces!"
"I will not allow you to dirty their eyes further with your ugliness! I, the knight protector of women! Lucius of the Erzberger Household, the Saint of Beauty, will defend them!"
Just as he said, this individual was a sword saint. But there was a mistake.
He is the Saint of Mercury, as that is his magical attribute. But it wasn't "elegant" to say that, so he changed the name himself.
One of the paid capture targets, Lucius Erzberger. A game character very popular with women.
This was because his designer was very famous in the BL community, and his voice actor was a pop music singer, half Japanese and half Korean, which made his sales ridiculously high.
The male players who played that Otome game didn't complain despite having to listen to his comments on his route. It was due to his excellent stats and combat parameters.
Even the game's "Lily" didn't talk much with him. Since he also didn't allow her to.
Therefore, the most annoying ally they could ask for was him.
Claudia and Sophia had faces of panic, not because of the ghouls, but because of him.
"O-Onee-chan, a very weird guy is talking to us."
"D-Don't look at him; he seems like he'll help us, but don't look at his face."
Lucius didn't hear anything they said. They weren't the only ones who told him that.
The imperial palace even does it. A few days ago, they sent him on a mission so he would be away from the palace for a long time.
But he finished the mission very quickly; it was more because the knights couldn't stand him.
Not even his own family, as the heir, wanted him. They made excuses so he wouldn't be at home.
Even some adventurers like Gladys avoided contact with him despite being surrounded by ghouls.
It was preferable to listen to the sounds of monsters than to his annoying words.
In this world, unlike the world Razel came from, Lucius was not at all popular.
"Disappear! Beautiful Slash."
Lucius shouted his attack. A crescent moon made of mercury came out of his sword's edge and cut the ghouls like a hot knife through butter.
The ghouls died instantly as the mercury absorbed and disintegrated them.
This was only the minimum power he possessed.
Lucius combed his hair before turning around.
"Young ladies, you need not fear any longer; the abominations have—"
He couldn't finish his heroic dialogue because the girls had disappeared.
"My, what swift girls. The fear of being devoured was so great that they prioritized their lives and couldn't thank me. That's fine with me."
Lucius elegantly and repulsively moved his white cape.
He walked, making annoying sounds with his armor that attracted ghouls.
He cut them down without getting his hair disheveled.
Then, after a while of cutting ghouls, he saw in the distance two figures on top of a building.
One of them seemed to have received orders and moved at great speed.
She jumped between the buildings. Lucius saw her and said.
"Clearly, that's an enemy. In the name of the Erzberger Household, I will eliminate her."
Lucius made a great leap and approached the mysterious figure that was jumping.
She seemed to sniff something; upon seeing Lucius approaching...
"Don't get in my way!"
She said that before giving him a strong punch to the cheek. The blow was strong enough to send him flying straight into a building.
A group of ghouls was entering the slums. The people had nowhere to go.
But Lucius, who was unconscious, brought down the building, which impacted the ghouls.
Unintentionally, he became a true hero.
The mysterious figure said before continuing to jump.
"Amy onee-sama entrusted me with this mission. I'll kill you if you come near again!"
A sword saint was defeated without his opponent knowing it.
◇◇◇
(Why am I spitting blood?)
Krulcifer was on his knees spitting blood.
Not even he understood that reason.
(What the hell happened?)
He lifted his gaze and saw a girl with animal ears and a tail in front of him.
(It was her! She left me in this state!)
Krulcifer stood up. His legs trembled.
But the anger he felt was stronger than any sensation he had ever felt.
"I'm going to kill you, bitch!"
Once he stopped trembling, he pointed his finger at Leila.
"I'll tear your head off!"
He stomped hard and ran straight at her. His large footsteps resonated in the place.
In a fraction of a second, he was half a meter from her.
Leila didn't even look at him.
She just turned slightly, and her leg struck Krulcifer's calf.
"Gaaah!"
A cry of pain emanated from deep inside him.
It was true pain.
What he had forgotten.
Leila circled around him disinterestedly.
"Hey, you."
"What the hell did you do to your body?"
She said, looking at him severely.
"I can tell your body underwent severe transformations. Did something happen to you?"
Her words were true.
Krulcifer remembered that to be strong, one day some mysterious men appeared.
They told him that if he wanted to be stronger, he should eat some red pills.
He didn't know what they were made of.
But he wanted to be strong, much stronger than Gerhardt.
The days passed; Krulcifer's body grew in an unimaginable way.
In the end, a few years passed, and that's how they managed to create the pills that the important members of the Black Crows use.
Unfortunately, they have not been able to achieve Krulcifer's power.
Due to his strength, Gerhardt appointed him as the lord of the Underworld; if he won 4000 fights as the undefeated champion, he would allow him a duel against the Night King.
This was his 4000th battle.
The victory in this duel meant everything to him.
He cared about nothing else.
On this day, his wish would be granted.
"Don't fuck with me!"
He stood up, and his muscles began to contract.
"I am the supreme champion! I am the One-Eyed Tyrant King, Krulcifer! And a vile bitch like you won't make me—"
"Shut up."
He couldn't finish his sentence, as Leila jumped and with a flying kick, sent his jaw backward.
He spat blood and was sent flying straight into the wall.
The stands couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Even Lambert, with one of his eyes open.
"W-What... what is happening?"
A demi-human girl out of nowhere was beating the king of this place.
Once again, he stood up, only this time his skin was turning red.
"I've had enough of you!"
Krulcifer was releasing his magical power.
A large amount of magical power made the earth and air tremble.
Leila was just watching him without interest.
(Leila was tasked with rescuing these two, then told to wait for the Master when he finished.)
(As if I care!)
Krulcifer's body was so red that he could be called a demon.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"
He shouted with all his might as he ran towards Leila.
He raised his large left fist and drove it into the ground.
Leila jumped back from her position without taking her hands out of her pockets.
Seeing that she dodged it, he threw punches wildly.
"Aaaahh!"
Left.
Right.
Large amounts of punches at high speeds.
Leila dodged them without paying the slightest attention to her opponent.
It seemed she was dancing in slow motion due to the natural and advantageous way she dodged the attacks.
The large hands rose and fell together.
He thought she was crushed, but then he noticed something like a feather flying near him.
She gave a light kick, and he fell to the ground.
He had lost two teeth.
As he fell to the ground, Leila told him.
"My clan specializes in combat. We live to fight. We sleep thinking about how we will fight tomorrow, and dying in battle is our greatest desire."
"You are not strong. You are just trash that made itself big. Leila hates parasites like you."
Hearing that word "parasite," Krulcifer had a memory.
(A child was alone.)
(He was in a bed.)
He got so angry that he ran straight at her, throwing punches everywhere.
Leila gave him a light blow with her hair.
It was strong enough to leave a scar.
Again he fell in pain.
Krulcifer was losing.
He was being very serious against a girl who wasn't taking him seriously.
But he got much angrier, and his muscles grew.
He prepared to explode in a frenzy of madness, but—
"You're so annoying! Leila hates annoying people!"
Running quickly towards him,
Leila unleashed a combo of destructive blows.
To his stomach.
To his pancreas.
To his ankles.
His abdomen was taking a lot of punishment.
Her fists were sinking into his body.
Leila gave him a spinning flying kick to his jaw.
Krulcifer spat blood, but the punishment didn't end there.
Leila took his head, and her knee embedded itself in his face.
His nose was broken, and several of his teeth came out.
The undefeated champion fell to his knees.
He looked like a living corpse.
Leila moved her arm back. Her sharp nails were ready to tear.
"Let me at least kill you like a warrior."
She quickly moved her hand straight to Krulcifer's chest.
She pierced the skin, muscles, tissues, and bone like butter.
Her hand went straight to his heart and began to squeeze it.
Leila squeezed Krulcifer's heart like a sponge.
She could feel the blood stopping and a heart attack wanting to set in.
But there was another thing that left her amazed.
It wasn't that he was defeated by a girl, but something else.
In the sky, in that beautiful red sky,
A figure was falling.
"Incredible..."
Krulcifer watched Gerhardt, the Night King, the supreme existence of power he knew, turning to ash while stretching out his hand.
It was then that he remembered everything.
◇◇◇
Krulcifer was a reincarnated person.
In his previous life, he was a child suffering from a degenerative disease.
Medical science had advanced so much that they could cure almost any modern disease.
But hereditary diseases are very difficult in these times.
He spent all day in bed.
He watched through his window as other children played happily.
But he, who was also a child, spent his time in bed.
At the age of 18, his end came.
He had one wish.
He wished he could walk like everyone else.
Just that innocent wish crossed his mind before he closed his eyelids forever.
Sometime later, he woke up in a puddle of mud.
It was in the slums.
He remembered nothing of his past self.
Much less that his little sister was playing an Otome game near him to keep him company.
The main character was a girl, but she told him that if he wanted a name of his own, just for a laugh.
He said. –Krulcifer. A mix between my haircut and my taste for secret societies.
That was the first time he smiled from the heart.
Time passed, and bad things happened to him.
Sometime later, he changed his name to one he didn't know, and then he was called the One-Eyed Death. Then other names came.
In the end, the question of what it meant to be strong rolled around in his mind.
Having his heart crushed, he understood his mistake.
"What's the point of having a second chance if it ends badly?"
With those words, Krulcifer's heart was crushed, and he fell onto his back.
Before his eye closed, he watched Gerhardt turn to ash and murmur.
"Even kings fall. I'm glad to have seen that even the arrogant get their comeuppance."
With a smile of satisfaction on his face, Krulcifer forever dreamed of a good place to go.